Spain Genealogists

Our Spain genealogists research on location. They will find and analyze the best records available to further your family history research. They can perform research in all Spanish archives.

National Archives

Archivo General de Indias
80 million pages of documents (1492-1830s) on political, social. religious, and economic history from Tierra de Fuego to the South of the United States as well as the Spanish Far East, and the Philippines. Includes relations between Christopher Columbus and the Catholic Monarchs, Juan Sebastián Elcano’s will and testament, writings of explorers, extraordinary map collection, and the Treaty of Tordesillas Archives of Capital Provinces

Archivo General de Simancas
Over 75,000 files from the Catholic Monarchs to the first third of the 19th century

Archivo Histórico Nacional in Madrid
Over 4,000 documents by public and private institutions throughout the History of Spain from 1400s to 2000s. Includes Spanish ecclesiastical records, 200,000 medieval parchments, 16,361 maps, 48 private collections. Includes records for the Inquisition, Consejos (territories of the crown of Castile in the Old Regime), and Hacienda (personal dossiers of public employees)

Archivo General de la Administración in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid)
A National Archive similar to the Archivo Histórico Nacional, but with contemporary documents (XIX-XXth centuries), such as Hacienda (personal dossiers of public employees)

National Library
Contains more than 26 million items, including 15 million books and other printed materials, 30,000 manuscripts, 143,000 newspapers and serials, 4.5 million graphic materials, 510,000 music scores, 500,000 maps, 600,000 sound recording, 90,000 audiovisuals, 90,000 electronic documents, and more than 500,000 microforms

Sección Nobleza del Archivo Histórico Nacional
Includes canonization process of Saint Francis Borgia (4th Duke of Gandía), Treaty of Granada, and records of the ambassador in the Treaty of Münster

Regional Archives

Archivo de la Corona de Aragón Documents relating to Royal Heritage, government and justice. Includes Registers of the Royal Chancellor Office, heirs to the notarial practices developed at the University of Bologna since the end of the 12th Century, original documents issued by the crown that provide firsthand information on society and life in the Middle Ages

Archivo de la Real Chancillería de Valladolid
Almost 14 lineal kilometers of records that provide a magnificent picture of the judicial, social and economic history of the northern half of the crown of Castile in the Old Regime (North of the Tajo River). Includes Regional Court of Political Responsibilities of Valladolid (1939-1942) and the Social Courts of Valladolid (1938-1988).

Archivo de la Real Chancillería de Granada
Similar to the Archive of Valladolid, but contains the southern half of the crown of Castile (South of the Tajo River)

Archives of Capital Provinces

Our researchers can research in all provincial capitals, including Sevilla, León, Santander, and Logroño. There are three types of archives in each Spanish province:

Archivo Histórico Provincial
Centralized notarial records for the towns of each province; one archive in each province capital for a total of 50 Archivos Históricos Provinciales in Spain

Diocesan archives
Church record archives

Biblioteca del Marqués de la Encomienda in Almendralejo, Badajoz, and Extremadura
Church records of the three Extremadura dioceses

Archivo General de Arzobispado de Sevilla
Marriage dossiers from 1500s to 1900s from the provinces of Sevilla, Huelva, and the most important towns of Cádiz such as Jerez de la Frontera, Puerto de Santa María, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda

Archivo de la Corona de Aragón
Documents relating to Royal Heritage, government and justice. Includes Registers of the Royal Chancellor Office, heirs to the notarial practices developed at the University of Bologna since the end of the 12th Century, original documents issued by the crown that provide firsthand information on society and life in the Middle Ages

Archivo Histórico Provincial de Alava

Archivo Histórico Provincial de Guipúzcoa

Archivo Histórico Provincial de Sevilla
Notarial records from Seville and a lot of towns in this province

Archivo de la Real Chancillería de Granada (Granada, Spain)
The Archivo de la Real Chancillería de Granada has many genealogical records, and contains all records for the southern half of the crown of Castile (south of the Tajo river).
Archivo de La Corona de Aragon (Barcelona, Spain)
This archive contains:
Documents relating to royal heritage, government, and justice
Registers of the Royal Chancellors Office
Heirs to the notarial practices developed at the University of Bologna since the end of the 12th century
Original documents provided by the crown that provide firsthand information on society and life in the Middle Ages
Archivo de la Real Chancillería de Valladolid (Valladolid, Spain)
This archive contains:
14 linear kilometers of records that provide a magnificant picture of judicial, social, and economic history of the northern half of the crown of Castile in the Old Regime (north of the Tajo river)
Regional Court of Political Responsibilities of Valladolid (1939-1942)
Social Courts of Valladolid (1938-1988)
Archivo de Simancas (Valladolid, Spain)
The Archivo de Simancas has many genealogical records, including more than 75,000 files from the Catholic Monarchs to the first third of the 19th Century.
Archivo General de Arzobispado de Sevilla (Sevilla, Spain)
This archive contains:
Marriage dossiers from the 1500s to the 1900s from the provinces of Sevilla, Huelva, and the most important towns of Cádiz, such as Jerez de la Frontera, Puerto de Santa María, and sanlúcar de Barrameda.
Archivo General de Indias (Seville, Spain)
This archive contains 80 million pages of documents (1492-1830s) on politcal, social, religious, and economic history from Tierra De Fuego to the south of the U.S., as well as the Spanish Far East and the Phillipines. Other collections include the following:
Communications between Christopher Columbus and the Catholic Monarchs
Juan Sebastián Elcano’s will and testament
Writings of explorers
Extraordinary map collection
Treaty of Tordesillas Archives of Capital Provinces
Archivo General de la Administración (Alcalá de Henares in Madrid, Spain)
The Archivo General de la Administración in Alcalá de Henares has many genealogical records, and has a focus on contemporary documents, such as personal dossiers of public employees (19th and 20th centuries).
Archivo Historico Nacional (Madrid, Spain)
This archive contains:
4,000 documents from public and private institutions throughout the history of Spain from the 1400s to 2000s
Spanish ecclesiastical records
200,000 medieval parchments
16,361 maps
48 private collections (includes records of the Inquisition, territories of the crown of Castile in the Old Regime, and personal dossiers of public employees)
Archivo Histórico Provincial de Alava (Alava, Spain)
The Archivo Histórico Provincial de Alava has many genealogical records.
Archivo Histórico Provincial de Guipúzcoa (Oñati, Guipúzcoa, Spain)
The Archivo Histórico Provincial de Guipúzcoa has many genealogical records.
Archivo Histórico Provincial de Sevilla (Sevilla, Spain)
The Archivo Histórico Provincial de Sevilla has many genealogical records, including notarial records from Seville and a lot of towns in the province.
Archivo Histórico Provincial de Vizcaya (Biscay, Spain)
The Archivo Histórico Provincial de Vizcaya has many genealogical records.
Centro de Información Documental de Archivos (CIDA) (Madrid, Spain)
This archive contains:
Census-Guide to spanish and Latin American Archives
Information from 49,000 archives relating to Spain (35,000) and Latin America (14,000)
Over 12,000 monographs
4,860 pamphlets
707 journals
Over 170,000 biographies
Sección Nobleza del Archivo Histórico Nacional (Toledo, Spain)
This archive contains:
Canonization process of Saint Francis Borgia (4th Duke of Gandía)
Treaty of Granada
Records of the ambassador in the Treaty of Münster
Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica (Salamanca, Spain)
This archive contains:
Extensive newspaper collection
60,000 monographs
4,000 periodicals
Military literature (1936-1939)
Images of Civil War and Exile
Domumentation of Freemasonry, theosophical, and Rotarian associations
National Library (Madrid, Spain)
This archive contains:
15 million books and other printed material
30,000 manuscripts
143,000 newspapers and serials
4.5 million graphic materials
510,000 music scores
500,000 maps
600,000 sound recordings
90,000 audiovisuals
90,000 electronic documents
More than 500,000 microforms

Our professional researchers can do research projects of many sizes and for many budgets. We customize the amount of research provided according to your needs.

Some of the major records sources that can be used for genealogy research in Spain include:

Birth, marriage, and death records were kept by some towns

Birth, marriage, and death records have been recorded by the government

Land records were kept by the towns and counties from the time they were settled

Probate records were kept by the local courts

Churches kept records of the christenings, marriages, deaths, or other information about their members

Newspapers were written in many areas and time periods that contain information such as notices of marriages, notices of death, and obituaries

Military records

City directories

Town and county histories about the settlers and their families

Naturalization and citizenship records

Ship passenger lists, tax lists, and town records were recorded for many areas

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About Trace.com

Trace.com is the world’s largest family history research firm with over 4,000 professional genealogists as well as hundreds of subject matter experts (scholars, private investigators, professors, clergy, and archivists). We are not limited to the small percentage of records that are online. We are not limited to just one or two genealogists. We are not limited to a few local repositories. Instead, we access the world’s records wherever they are located and in whatever form–whether online or offline, including the over 90% of records that FamilySearch estimates are not online.